by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Volunteers and humanitarians are challenging the Israeli authorities. The well-known European confederation of NGOs, the Freedom Flotilla, has announced the dispatch of a new vessel to the shores of blockaded Gaza. And this time, on board are not ordinary pro-Palestinian activists, but celebrities, well-known volunteers and politicians.
However, even such a “star ship” does not guarantee that the Israelis will abandon their previous strategy.
Quite the opposite: under the close attention of the international community, Tel Aviv is not ready to give in to weakness.
HUMANITARIAN FLEET
The International Confederation of Volunteer Organizations "Freedom Flotilla" was created in 2010. Although its founders prefer to count the years since 2006, when Israel imposed a partial blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The Flotilla considers its first successful mission to be the breakthrough of the blockade of the ships Freedom and Free Gaza, which arrived in the enclave at the end of August 2008 with a cargo of building materials, fuel and food products.
Today, the coalition includes about twenty foundations and non-profit associations from Canada, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Brazil, Sweden, South Africa and Turkey.
Recently, French and Norwegian NGOs have also joined the Flotilla.
Throughout the history of the project, the activists' missions have been predominantly symbolic.
Flotilla representatives reported from the Gaza Strip, visited hospitals and educational institutions in the enclave, and organized video conferences with local residents and representatives of Palestinian factions, including some moderate Hamas commanders.
The humanitarian aid they brought, although inferior in volume to that supplied on behalf of the UN and other international organizations, still made it possible to cover some of the primary needs of the residents.
According to the Flotilla auditors, during the project’s existence, activists equipped several hundred small-tonnage vessels and collected about 25 thousand tons of various humanitarian aid.
A significant part of it, however, was detained by Israeli police and was unable to reach the shores of the enclave.
The first missions of the Flotilla really did evoke a lively response from the population of European countries.
And the incident with the attack by the Shayetet 13 special forces (naval commandos) on a humanitarian convoy in 2010, which claimed the lives of dozens of activists, is something that Israel prefers not to remember at all.
SECOND BIRTH
However, as time went on – and as the blockade around Gaza tightened – the humanitarian operations began to yield less and less results. The missions that took place during the active phase of fighting in the enclave (2023–2025) were not crowned with success.
Moreover, due to the high risk of becoming an accidental target of Israeli aircraft, the movement in 2024 temporarily shifted its activities to conducting political actions in Europe.
Naturally, such a sharp change in positioning did not have the best effect on the reputation of the Flotilla, nor on the volume of donations it received.
Some patrons who had worked with the activists for years broke off contact, accusing them of cowardice and betrayal of the Palestinians. By early 2025, the movement had almost completely dropped out of the news.
However, by summer, the activists suddenly reminded us of themselves. On June 1, the ship Maldin, the flagship of the Flotilla, left the Italian port of Catania. There were many celebrities on board.
Among them are environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who has taken on the role of “spokesperson” for the Palestinian issue in recent years, French MEP Rima Hassan, Irish actor Liam Cunningham and others.
In many ways, the vessel's departure was a response to the "maritime intimidation" of May 2025. At that time, an activist ship heading to Gaza was attacked in neutral waters near Malta by drones of unknown origin.
Although the perpetrators of the attack could not be identified, both Thunberg and her colleagues placed the blame on Tel Aviv.
ISRAEL IS SILENT
Flotilla activists have already recorded several video messages to the Israeli leadership, and supporters of the expedition have literally flooded the official social networks of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates with tags and reposts.
Israel, however, maintains absolute silence both at the civil and military levels. Even the most ardent "hawks", who previously never missed an opportunity to speak out in defense of the actions of official Tel Aviv, do not comment on the intention of European activists to "break through" to Gaza.
This silence is causing serious concern for the UN. The Israeli side has not given public guarantees that it will allow the ship to enter Gaza and will not take hostile actions against the activists. The risk of a repeat of the 2010 crisis has increased many times over.
It is not surprising that at the moment when the ship had covered about half of its journey and reached the territorial waters of Greece, the UN issued an appeal to official Tel Aviv, asking it to refrain from violent actions. However, the Israelis ignored it as well.
There are about two days left before the Maldin is scheduled to arrive in Gaza. And there is still hope that the Israelis will not dare to attack the ship.
Moreover, there are not just ordinary activists on board, but celebrities and current parliamentarians. Applying “anti-terrorism regulations” to them will be problematic.
On the other hand, given previous incidents – such as the shooting by an army patrol towards a diplomatic delegation in the West Bank in late May – fame and political immunity seem like a dubious tool of deterrence, especially when it comes to maintaining the long-standing blockade of Gaza.
Israeli "hawks" are convinced that if they give in and allow humanitarian aid into the enclave by sea, this will give Hamas a chance to strengthen its influence over the remaining residents of Gaza. And at the same time, it will multiply the duration of the military operation. And therefore, its costs.